Kolkata’s 122-year-old Jirat Bridge near Alipore Zoo will be dismantled and replaced with a new bridge, with a temporary two-lane Bailey Bridge proposed to maintain traffic during the reconstruction. The administration has not yet announced when the demolition will begin, but police expect work to start after the temporary route is completed.
The iron bridge on Belvedere Road is a major link between Alipore and areas including Hastings and the Race Course. Lalbazar has said that several thousand vehicles use the bridge every day, most of them travelling from south Kolkata and the southern suburbs. The bridge is also an important access route to Alipore Zoo.
The proposed replacement follows an inspection by officers of the Irrigation Department, which is responsible for maintaining the bridge. The inspection reportedly found the 122-year-old structure to be in poor condition. The decision was subsequently taken to dismantle the existing bridge and construct a new one.
Traffic police had initially proposed a footbridge over Tolly’s Nala near Jirat Bridge. During discussions around the site, the condition of the bridge came under focus. The structure has already been subject to restrictions on goods vehicle movement for several years.
Heavy goods vehicles are currently barred from using Jirat Bridge, Kalighat Bridge and the Kidderpore iron bridge. Such vehicles are permitted to use Kidderpore’s Dighat Bridge and the Dhanyadhany Setu. The proposed closure of Jirat Bridge is therefore expected to require a separate traffic arrangement for smaller vehicles using the Alipore-Zoo and Race Course corridors.
Police have proposed constructing a two-lane Bailey Bridge over Tolly’s Nala beside Saramani Bridge. A partly unused road section near a hotel close to Tolly’s Nala and Saramani Bridge has been identified as a possible approach route. The other end of the nala is near a BSNL office, and police officers have held discussions with BSNL about using the unused section to create a temporary connection to the Bailey Bridge.
Under the proposed arrangement, smaller vehicles would travel from the Race Course towards Alipore Zoo through the Bailey Bridge, while vehicles would use Saramani Bridge in the opposite direction. Police have said that separating the two traffic movements could help reduce congestion on Belvedere Road during the bridge replacement.
Senior police officers are scheduled to inspect the location on Wednesday. According to the report, construction of the Bailey Bridge is expected to take one and a half years. The administration has not yet specified the start date for dismantling Jirat Bridge or provided a construction timeline for the permanent replacement.
